Page 59 of Knot Letting Go
“Oh, my sweet girl, I know. But I can’t keep swimming forever. I don’t have my mermaid tail on.” Not that would help in reality, but I had to play to her imagination and lessen the danger we were in. “Mermaids are very good at swishing their tails, even when they’re asleep. Have you ever seen a fish asleep in their aquarium? That’s exactly what they do.”
“Really?” Lillianna’s arms loosened a fraction.
“Yes, fish can absolutely swim in their sleep, and so can mermaids. I can’t without a tail, though. That’s why I need you to starfish for me. You were super good at it in the pool.” I assured her.
“But I’m cold and I have to pee.” She lowered her chin, embarrassed about it.
“It’s okay. If you need to pee, just do it. This pool has a filtration system to clean it out. I think that’s what the light overthere is for. I’m cold too, but we’ll get used to it, and hopefully we won’t be in here very long.” I kissed her cheek and moved to float as much as I could on my back with her. “My head will be right beside your head. We can hold hands too, if that helps.”
“Okay.” Lillianna slowly let me go and turned to float on her back with her arms and legs spread like a star. She kept one hand on mine, and she was so cold. Poor tiny thing. “I’m scared, Aubrielle.”
I gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s okay to be scared. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. It means doing something even though you’re scared. We’ll be scared and brave together.”
There was a muffled gunshot from outside, and a few seconds later, there was a shout. The sound of the water in the metal cistern was weirdly loud, and the beat of my heart drummed in my ears.
A heat pain lanced through me, and I couldn’t stop myself from curling up. I dipped underwater and gasped as I fought against it, trying to keep my legs and arms straight so I could float. I refused to let go of Lillianna’s hand, but there was no hiding my struggle as I splashed around.
“Are you okay? What are those noises outside?” Lillianna’s voice hedged on panic.
“I’m okay. Don’t worry. I banged on the edge of the tank when I fell in here and it’s sore, but I can keep floating.” God, I hoped I could. “Maybe those are fireworks outside. I don’t know, but we’ll be good mermaids and keep safe here. Can you tell me a story about what sort of friends and treasure we’d find in a dark sea cave? I bet the fish would glow in the dark.”
Lillianna started slowly at first, but then her narrative picked up. Hopefully it would distract her from our dire situation for a bit. I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back my cries at my increasing agony. Of all the ways the Omegas were toldthat their heat could be the death of them, drowning inside a cistern was never one of them.
My world became an excruciating watery blur. Several times I slipped below the water, my body not wanting to straighten out.
I couldn’t die. Not yet. Lillianna needed me.
It was the only thing that allowed me to keep fighting.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - Quill
When we finally found the Sedan and called it into Talis, I leapt out of the car as soon as Konstantin parked out of sight on the side of the beach road. The setting sun was turning the landscape orange and gold, and there was nothing but a few sand dunes between me and the girls now.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Konstantin slid out of the driver’s seat. It surprised me that once we saw the Sedan—not even hidden in a garage or anything because the rental house was so secluded—that he didn’t drive his car through the front of the house.
I would have. I was going to burst through that front door and take back what was mine. “Going to get Lilli and Aubrielle.”
“What you’re going to do is get yourself fucking shot.” Konstantin snapped. “I don’t know how many men Lorenzo has there, but you can guarantee every single one of them has at least one gun. The second you step into firing range, you’re dead.”
“I know!” Fuck, did I know, but I couldn’t stay in the car. Every second that the girls were in there was one more moment of torture for them. I slammed my fists down on the roof of the car. I’d be of no use saving the girls if I was dead. “Goddamn those mother-fuckers! How fast is Talis’ team getting here?”
Konstantin bent and reached into the car to open the glovebox. He took out a pistol and checked to see if it was loaded. “They’re not going to be here fast enough.”
“Well, fuck. Okay.” Who knew my brother was packing? “I guess we’re going in then?”
“We are.” Konstantin walked around and popped the trunk. “Grab the flare gun, flashlight, knife… And the handle to the carjack.”
“Shit. Aren’t you a boy scout?” I picked up the orange plastic flare gun and put it in the band of my shorts along with two extra flares. I popped open the safety knife. Its blade was only a few inches long, but it still could stab out someone’s eye. “I don’t think we’ll need the flashlight. It’s still light enough. And the handle?”
Konstantin had taken off his jacket and put it in the trunk. He rolled up the sleeves to his button-up shirt. “The flashlight isn’t for illumination. It’s heavy and metal. We’ll use it and the carjack handle to hit people… If it comes to it.”
Oh, both of us knew it would. “I’ll take the handle then, since you have the gun. It’s longer.” I rummaged around in the trunk, ruining the order of things. A pair of lifejackets and a bottle of sunblock. An adult’s snorkeling set and a child’s. I tapped the fins. “Hey, they’re going to be watching all around the house, but they won’t expect anyone to be coming from the water. We could take them by surprise by swimming up.”
He pursed his lips, scowling as he thought about it. “You want to do it?”
“Yeah, no one would expect it. The flare gun was already in a plastic bag here. I can keep it dry. I’ve been snorkeling several times. We can zip down the coast and BAM!” I made a shooting motion with my hand.
“If you can do it, it’s a good idea.” Konstantin slowly nodded. His face set in a hard, determined expression. “I’m going in from the front. Make like I want to talk to Lorenzo. You sneak in from the back while they’re distracted with me and get the girls out. He probably has them hiding in a closet or bathroom.”
